Stowable vehicle seat

ABSTRACT

A stowable vehicle seat includes a seat support portion that supports a seat cushion rotatably in the front-and-rear direction, a seat back provided with reclining elements that can be folded onto the seat cushion, a stowage recess portion disposed on the vehicle body floor side, a front-side leg portion disposed on the front side of the seat cushion, leg-portion locking elements that lock and unlock the front-side leg portion to and from the vehicle body floor side, a link mechanism connected to the reclining elements and the leg-portion locking elements, and a strap for operating the reclining mechanism and the leg-portion locking elements through the link mechanism, in which the seat back is locked in the folded state in a stowing operation by a pulling operation of the strap.

CROSS REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATIONS

This application is the U.S. national phase of the International PatentApplication No. PCT/JP2009/055829 filed Mar. 24, 2009, which claims thebenefit of Japanese Patent Application No. 2008-076327 filed Mar. 24,2008, the entire content of which is incorporated herein by reference.

BACKGROUND

The present invention relates to a stowable vehicle seat andparticularly to a stowable vehicle seat that has improved operability.

A stowable vehicle seat has been known, as is a technique in which afront-side leg portion that is lockable and unlockable from a vehiclebody floor side is disposed on the front side of a seat cushion formingthe stowable vehicle seat and a support portion rotatable in thefront-and-rear direction on the front side of a containing recessportion (stowage recess portion) formed in the vehicle body floor isdisposed on the rear end portion side thereof, lock of the front-sideleg portion is unlocked, and the vehicle seat is rotated rearward andcontained in the containing recess portion in a state in which a seatback is folded onto the seat cushion, for example.

That is, the prior-art stowable vehicle seat is, as shown in JapaneseUnexamined Patent Application Publication No. 2006-082698 (“the '698Publication”), configured such that lock of the front-side leg portionto the vehicle body floor side is unlocked by a lever operation and theseat back is folded by a pulling operation of a strap, while the seatcushion is rotated rearward at the same time around rotating shaftsdisposed on the right and left sides of the rear end portion of the seatcushion so that the vehicle seat is containable in the containing recessportion.

The technique described in the '698 Publication is configured such thatreclining lock is unlocked by the pulling operation of the strap, theseat back is folded onto the seat cushion, and the vehicle seat isrotated rearward and operated to be stowed, but since it is configuredsuch that the vehicle seat is rotated rearward with the reclining lockunlocked, a problem might occur in that the folded vehicle seat isopened again during the stowing operation and becomes difficult to becontained.

SUMMARY

In view of the above problems, an object of various embodiments of thepresent invention is to provide a stowable vehicle seat that is rotatedin a stowing direction while the seat back is folded onto the seatcushion during the stowing operation of the stowable vehicle seat toimprove operability.

Another object is to provide a stowable vehicle seat that has improvedoperability while a cost and a weight are reduced.

The above problems are solved by a seat locking device including a firstseat support that supports one end portion side of a seat cushionmovably in the front-and-rear direction, a seat back that can be foldedonto the seat cushion through reclining elements, a second seat supportdisposed on the other end portion side of the seat cushion, locking andunlocking elements that can lock and unlock the second seat support andthe vehicle body floor side, a link mechanism connected to the recliningelements, and an operating element connected to the reclining elementsand the locking and unlocking elements through the link mechanism, inwhich the reclining elements have a reclining mechanism that fold theseat back onto the seat cushion and a detection mechanism that detects astate in which the seat back is folded, and the link mechanism has afirst link member connected to the operating element, a second linkmember connected to the reclining mechanism, and a third link memberconnected to the detection mechanism.

With the above configuration, during the seat stowing operation, astowable operation and locking and unlocking operations of the recliningelements can be performed by an operator's operation of the operatingelement through the first link member and the second link member so thatfavorable operability of a stowing and returning work of the seat can beensured.

The second link member is preferably connected to the recliningmechanism and the locking and unlocking elements.

Also, the third link member is preferably provided with a locking memberthat can lock and unlock the second link member to and from the firstlink member and is movable upon detection by the detection mechanism ofa state in which the seat back is folded to unlock the lock by thelocking member.

As described above, since the second link member is connected to thereclining mechanism and the locking and unlocking elements, the thirdlink member is provided with the locking member that can lock and unlockthe second link member to and from the first link member and is movableupon detection by the detection mechanism of the state in which the seatback is folded to unlock the lock by the locking member, the stowablemoving operation and the locking and unlocking operation of thereclining element and the locking and unlocking elements of thefront-side leg portion is performed by the operator's operation of theoperating element through the first link member and the second linkmember, and when the seat back is folded onto the seat cushion, thereclining mechanism is brought into the locking state again so that theseat can be moved, and the seat can be stowed smoothly.

More specifically, the first link member is more preferably supportedmovably by a pulling operation of the operating element and is urged ina direction opposite to the moving direction by the pulling operation ofthe operating element all the time.

As described above, according to the above configuration, while thepulling operation of the operating element is not being performed, thefirst link member is returnable to a predetermined position where it islockable to the second link member to be reliably operated, and anoperating feeling during the stowing operation can be improved.

Also, it is preferable that the second link member is supportedcoaxially with the first link member, and the third link member issupported by the first link member.

As mentioned above, the above configuration reduces the number ofcomponents, cost, and a weight.

It is preferable that the second link member includes a contact portionthat can be brought into contact with the locking member of the thirdlink member, a first locking portion connected to the recliningmechanism through a connecting member, a second locking portionconnected to the locking and unlocking elements through the connectingmember, and a movable shaft supported by the first link member, and thefirst locking portion and the second locking portion are disposed onboth sides of the movable shaft.

As described above, with the above configuration, a component layout isobtained in which a pulling amount that operates the reclining mechanismand the locking and unlocking elements and a movable amount of thesecond link member is easily adjusted, and reductions in the number ofcomponents, cost, and weight are realized.

A stowable vehicle seat is provided in which, during a seat stowingoperation, the stowing moving operation by operation of the operatingelement and the locking and unlocking operation of the reclining elementcan be performed by one operating element and favorable operability inthe stowing and returning operation of the seat is provided.

During the stowing operation of the stowable vehicle seat, since areclining lock is made in a state in which the seat back is folded ontothe seat cushion, a stowable vehicle seat having improved operability isprovided.

A stowable vehicle seat is provided that has reliable operations ofstowing of and returning of the seat and favorable operation feeling.

The design reduces the number of components, cost and weight.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF DRAWINGS

The drawing figures illustrate various embodiments of the invention,that are described in more detail below.

FIG. 1 is a side schematic diagram of a rear portion of a vehicleequipped with a stowable vehicle seat according to an embodiment of thepresent invention;

FIG. 2 is a front perspective view of the stowable vehicle seataccording to an embodiment of the present invention;

FIG. 3 is a rear perspective view of the stowable vehicle seat accordingto an embodiment of the present invention;

FIG. 4 is an outline perspective view of a seat frame according to anembodiment of the present invention;

FIG. 5 is an enlarged explanatory side view diagram of a link mechanismaccording to an embodiment of the present invention;

FIG. 6 is a I-I sectional explanatory diagram of the link mechanismaccording to an embodiment of the present invention;

FIG. 7 is an outline explanatory side view diagram of a link mechanismwhen a seat back is folded according to an embodiment of the presentinvention;

FIG. 8 is an outline explanatory side view diagram of a locking portionof a front-side leg portion according to an embodiment of the presentinvention;

FIGS. 9A-E are explanatory side view diagrams illustrating an operationprocedure in a stowing operation of the stowable vehicle seat accordingto an embodiment of the present invention;

FIGS. 10A-D are operation explanatory side view diagrams of the linkmechanism in the stowing operation of the stowable vehicle seataccording to an embodiment of the present invention;

FIGS. 11A-E are explanatory side view diagrams illustrating an operationprocedure in a returning operation of the stowable vehicle seataccording to an embodiment of the present invention; and

FIGS. 12A, B are an operation explanatory side view diagrams of the linkmechanism in the returning operation of the stowable vehicle seataccording to an embodiment of the present invention.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION

An embodiment of the present invention will be described below referringto the attached drawings. Members, arrangement and the like describedbelow do not limit the present invention but it is natural that variousvariations are possible according to the gist of the present invention.

FIGS. 1 to 12 show an embodiment of the present invention. First, aconfiguration of a seat S according to this embodiment will be describedbased on FIGS. 1 to 4.

A vehicle equipped with the seat S according to this embodiment includesthree-row seats arranged in series in a longitudinal direction, andseats on the third row are configured stowable. On the rear of the seatS, a stowage recess portion 5 that stows the seat S is disposed on avehicle body floor 4. A floor carpet, not shown, is laid oversubstantially the entire surface of the vehicle body floor 4.

The seat S has three seats crosswise and is constituted by a right-sideseat S1 for two people located on the right side with respect to atraveling direction of the vehicle and a left-side seat S2 for oneperson.

In the following explanation, the description of right and left sideindicating the direction refers to a direction with respect to thetraveling direction of the vehicle.

Also, since a containing mechanism and an operating method are the samefor both the right-side seat S1 and the left-side seat S2, theright-side seat S1 will be referred to as the seat S collectively in thefollowing explanation example for convenience.

The seat S includes a seat cushion 11, a seat back 12, headrests 13 and13, and a front-side leg portion 14. Also, as shown in FIG. 3, from therear surface side of the seat back 12, a strap 20 as an operatingelement for performing a stowing operation of the seat S and a returnstrap 70 for raising and pulling the seat back 12 during a returningoperation are extended outward from the rear surface side of the seat S.

The strap 20 is the operating element operated during the stowing andreturning operation of the seat S, and a wide bendable belt of a lengthof approximately 1 m is extended to the outer side from a strap outletportion 20 a to facilitate the operation by a passenger. Since thestowing operation of the seat S is performed by a pulling operation ofthe strap 20, an operation load is reduced as compared with an operationwith a lever. Similarly, the return strap 70 for performing the raisingoperation of the seat back 12 is also constituted by a wide bendablebelt. In a state in which the stowing and returning operations of theseat S are not performed, parts of the strap 20 and the return strap 70are hooked on the rear surface of the seat back 12 by a planer fastener.In this embodiment, the strap 20 and the return strap 70 are formed as abelt shape, but they may be formed as a strip shape or a pulling-levershape. If being formed as the pulling-lever shape, it is not exposedlike the strap 20 or the return strap 70, and the appearance becomesfavorable.

A seat frame F of the seat S shown in FIG. 4 includes a seat-cushionframe 21 constituting the seat cushion 11, a seat-back frame 22constituting the seat back 12, and a front-side leg portion frame 24,and the seat-cushion frame 21 and the seat-back frame 22 are connectedto each other through a reclining mechanism 27, while the seat-cushionframe 21 and the vehicle body floor 4 side are connected to each otherthrough seat support portions 25 and 26 as a first seat support. Also,above the seat-back frame 22, pillars of the headrest frames, not shown,are disposed through pillar support portions 23.

The seat-cushion frame 21 constitutes the seat cushion 11 which iscovered by a cushion pad, cover and the like, not shown, and supportsthe passenger from below. The seat-cushion frame 21 has the front-sideleg portion frame 24 roratably (movably) attached to the front side.Also, at the rear end portion of the seat-cushion frame 21, back framesupport portions 21 a and 21 a to be connected to the seat-back frame 22are disposed.

The right and left seat support portions 25 and 26 support the rear endportion side of the seat-cushion frame 21 rotatably in thefront-and-rear direction, in which a coil spring 48 is attached to theone seat support portion 26 to urge the seat cushion 11 in the frontrotating (movable) direction all the time.

The seat-back frame 22 constitutes the seat back 12 that is covered by acushion pad or the like, not shown, and supports the back of a passengerfrom behind, and in this embodiment, it is formed by a substantiallyrectangular frame body. In more detail, the seat back 12 is constitutedby side frames 22 a and 22 a and a center frame 22 b. The side frames 22a and 22 a are constituted by a right and left pair and formedseparately in the crosswise direction of the seat-back frame 22 andextending in the vertical direction. The center frame 22 b is formed bya substantially rectangular frame body sandwiched by the side frames 22a and 22 a.

The lower end portion sides of the side frames 22 a and 22 a areconnected to the back-frame support portions 21 a and 21 a through thereclining mechanism 27 as a reclining element.

Inside the center frame 22 b, which is a frame body, a back plate 28 ina substantially plate shape is disposed along the surface supporting theback of the passenger, and on the back plate 28, a link mechanism 30,which will be described below, is disposed. Also, the strap outletportion 20 a is disposed on the upper part of the center frame 22 b.

The front-side leg portion frame 24 is covered by a cover material, notshown, to constitute the front-side leg portion 14 as a second seatsupport and supports the front side of the seat-cushion frame 21 and isconnected to the vehicle body floor 4 side. The front-side leg portionframe 24 is supported on the front side of the seat-cushion frame 21 atan upper part rotatably in the front-and-rear direction, and at a lowerpart of the front-side leg portion frame 24, a leg-portion lockingmechanism as locking and unlocking elements connected to leg-portionstrikers 44 disposed on the vehicle body floor 4 side, being lockableand unlockable, are arranged.

Subsequently, a configuration of the link mechanism 30 will be describedreferring to FIGS. 5 to 8.

The link mechanism 30 is connected to the strap 20 used in the operationof the seat S and is provided with a function of appropriately unlockingthe reclining mechanism 27 and the lock between the front-side legportion 14 and the vehicle body floor 4 in conjunction with theoperation of the strap 20 and the state of the seat S and is formed onthe back plate 28 as mentioned above.

The link mechanism 30 includes a first link member 31, a second linkmember 32, and a third rotatable link member 33 pivotally supported, anda connecting member is connected to each of the link members.

The connecting member includes a reclining release wire 40 connected tothe reclining mechanism 27, a leg-portion release wire 41 connected tolocking claws 43 and 43 of the front-side leg portion 14, a cancel wire42 that detects a folded state of the seat back 12, and the strap 20.

The first link member 31 is a substantially inverted triangular member,which is flat in the crosswise direction, having the strap 20 locked toa locking portion 34 a disposed on one end portion side through a strapconnecting member 34 and rotatably and pivotally supported on the backplate 28 by a shaft portion 31 a disposed at the center part of thefirst link member 31.

Between the shaft portion 31 a and the locking portion 34 a, anarc-shaped long hole 31 b is formed to draw a part of a concentriccircle around a shaft portion 33 a, which will be described below.

The other end portion side of the strap 20 connected to the first linkmember 31 through the strap connecting member 34 is extended outward ofthe seat back 12 from a strap outlet portion 20 a disposed on the rearsurface of the seat back 12 to be operated by a passenger easily.

The second link member 32 is a substantially rectangular member and isarranged on the first link member 31 and rotatably and pivotallysupported by the shaft portion 31 a as a movable shaft at the centerpart coaxially with the first link member 31. On the end portion sidecloser to the locking portion 34 a, a locking recess portion 32 b as acontact portion that is brought into contact with a locking projection35, which will be described below, is formed, and the reclining releasewire 40 is locked to a locking portion 40 c as a first locking portionformed on the opposite end portion side. Moreover, between the shaftportion 31 a and the locking recess portion 32 b, a locking portion 41 cas a second locking portion to which a leg-portion release wire 41 islocked is formed.

By pivotally supporting the second link member 32 coaxially with thefirst link member 31, a cost and a weight is reduced. Also, by disposingthe locking portion 40 c and the locking portion 41 c on the both sidesof the shaft portion 31 a, such component layout is obtained that apulling amount that operates the reclining mechanism 27 and theleg-portion locking mechanism and a rotation amount of the second linkmember 32 is easily adjusted, the number of components is reduced, andcost and weight are reduced.

The locking portion 40 c and the locking portion 41 c may be disposed onone side of the shaft portion 31 a.

The other end portion sides of the reclining release wire 40 and theleg-portion release wire 41 locked by the second link member 32 will bedescribed below.

As shown in FIG. 7, the other end portion side of the reclining releasewire 40 locked to the locking portion 40 c on the end portion side ofthe second link member 32 is guided by the reclining release cable 40 aand connected to the reclining mechanism 27 that performs a locking andunlocking operation of reclining of the seat back 12.

The reclining mechanism 27 releases the lock state of the recliningmechanism 27 when the reclining release wire 40 is pulled by theoperation of the link mechanism 30 to the link mechanism 30 side to makereclining adjustment of the seat back 12 possible.

As shown in FIG. 8, the other end portion side of the leg-portionrelease wire 41 locked to the locking portion 41 c of the second linkmember 32 is guided by a leg-portion release cable 41 a and connected tothe leg-portion locking mechanism. The leg-portion locking mechanism isformed at two spots on the lower side of the front-side leg portion 14,but since they share the same configuration, only one of them will bedescribed.

With regard to the leg-portion locking mechanism, when the leg-portionrelease wire 41 is pulled to the link mechanism 30 side by the operationof the link mechanism 30, the locking claw 43 connected to theleg-portion release wire 41 is rotated around a rotating shaft 43 a, thelock with the leg-portion striker 44 on the vehicle body floor 4 side isunlocked, and the seat cushion 11 is brought into a rotatable state inthe front-and-rear direction.

The locking claw 43 is urged by an urging spring 45 all the time forrotation in a direction where the lock state to the leg-portion striker44 is maintained.

The third link member 33 is a substantially rectangular member, arrangedbetween the first link member 31 and the back plate 28, and has thecenter part pivotally supported by the shaft portion 33 a rotabably tothe first link member 31 side. In the lower end portion side of thethird link member 33, a cancel wire 42 is locked through a lockingportion 42 c.

On the upper end portion side of the third link member 33, the lockingprojection 35 as a columnar locking portion is formed, and this lockingprojection 35 is inserted through the arc-shaped long hole 31 b formedin the first link member 31 and brought into contact with the lockingrecess portion 32 b of the second link member 32 and locked so that thesecond link member 32 is rotated along with the first link member 31.

Here, since the locking projection 35 is formed having an outer diameterslightly smaller than the width of the long hole 31 b, while the longhole 31 b is formed in an arcuate shape to draw a part of a concentriccircle of the shaft portion 33 a as mentioned above, it is so configuredthat the locking projection 35 is moved along the long hole 31 b alongwith the rotation of the third link member 33. Upper and lower limits ina rotation amount of the third link member 33 is adjusted by the lengthof the long hole 31 b.

To the third link member33, an urging spring, not shown, that urges itin a direction opposite to the direction pulled by the cancel wire 42all the time is attached. In this case, one end portion of the urgingspring is locked to the lower end portion side of the third link member33, while the opposite end portion is locked to a lower side of thestrap locking portion of the first link member 31. By attaching theurging spring to the third link member 33, the operation of the thirdlink member 33 is made more reliable.

The other end portion side of the cancel wire 42 locked by the thirdlink member 33 will be described below.

As shown in FIG. 7, the other end portion side of the cancel wire 42locked by the locking portion 42 c of the third link member 33 is guidedby a cancel cable 42 a and connected to a locking rib 49 formed on aconnection portion between the side frame 22 a and the back-framesupport portion 21 a. The locking rib 49 is a member disposed on thereclining mechanism 27 and mounted to rotate with the side frame 22 a.That is, in this embodiment that, the other end portion of the cancelwire 42 is locked to the locking rib 49, and this locking rib 49 isconfigured as a detection mechanism that pulls the locking portion 42 cformed on the third link member 33 through the cancel wire 42 while theseat back 12 is folded.

The reclining element includes this detection mechanism and thereclining mechanism 27.

In this embodiment, the locking rib 49 locked to the other end portionside of the cancel wire 42 is formed on the reclining mechanism 27, butthe rib may be formed at other lock positions as long as it isconfigured such that the cancel wire 42 is operated in a state in whichthe seat back 12 is folded with respect to the seat cushion 11.Moreover, it may also be formed at a position away from the recliningmechanism 27.

While the third link member 33 is not rotated, since the second linkmember 32 is rotated along with the first link member 31, the recliningrelease wire 40 and the leg-portion release wire 41 locked to the secondlink member 32 is pullable by the pulling operation of the strap 20, andthe lock between the reclining mechanism 27 and the leg-portion lockingmechanism is thereby unlocked.

If the third link member 33 is rotated, the locking projection 35secured to the third link member 33 is moved along the long hole 31 b.Since it is no longer in contact with the locking projection 35 at thelocking recess portion 32 b due to the movement of the lockingprojection 35, the lock between the first link member 31 and the secondlink member 32 is unlocked.

At this time, by way of the pulling operation of the strap 20, thesecond link member 32 is not rotated even if the first link member 31 isrotated, and the reclining release wire 40 and the leg-portion releasewire 41 locked by the second link member 32 are no longer pulled even ifthe first link member 31 is rotated.

That is, in the state in which the seat back 12 is folded, the recliningmechanism 27 is kept locked even if the strap 20 is pulled, and even ifthe stowing operation of the seat S is continued by continuously pullingthe strap 20, the folded seat back 12 is not opened again.

The locking portion 34 a of the strap connecting member 34 disposed onthe first link member 31 pivotally supports the strap connecting member34 rotatably on the first link member 31 and the other end side thereofis inserted through a guiding hole portion 28 a formed in the back plate28. Since the guiding hole portion 28 a is formed in an arcuate shape todraw a part of a concentric circle of the shaft portion 31 a, thelocking portion 34 a can move within the guiding hole portion 28 a withrotation of the first link member 31. Also, by adjusting the length ofthe guiding hole portion 28 a, upper and lower limits of a rotationamount of the first link member 31 is settable.

For the second link member 32, too, a projecting-shaped stopper, notshown, is disposed on the back plate 28 or on the first link member 31to arbitrarily set the upper and lower limits of the rotation amount.

On the reclining release wire 40 and the leg-portion release wire 41 onthe end portion side opposite to the link mechanism 30, an urgingspring, not shown, that urges each of the reclining release wire 40 andthe leg-portion release wire 41 all the time in a direction to maintainthe lock state between the reclining mechanism 27 and the leg-portionlocking mechanism is disposed.

Also, the first link member 31 is urged by an urging spring 46 in adirection to pull the strap 20 downward all the time. The urging spring46 has one end portion locked to the lower side of the locking portion34 a and the other end portion to the back plate 28 side. While thepulling operation of the operating element is not performed, the firstlink member 31 is returned by the urging spring 46 to a predeterminedposition that is lockable to the second link member 32 so that the linkmechanism 30 is reliably operated, and an appropriate operation feelingis given in the pulling operation of the strap 20.

Also, an end portion member 40 b, which is an end portion of thereclining release cable 40 a that guides the reclining release wire 40on the link mechanism 30 side is secured to a bracket, not shown, on theback plate 28. Similarly, an end portion member 41 b on the linkmechanism side that guides the leg-portion release wire 41 is alsosecured by a bracket, not shown, onto the back plate 28. Also, an endportion member 42 b on the link mechanism 30 side that guides the firstcancel wire 42 is similarly secured to the first link member 31.

On the seat-back frame 22 to which the reclining mechanism 27 isattached, the return strap 70 that can release the lock of the recliningmechanism 27 and raise the seat back 12 is attached through a returnlink member 71 (See FIG. 7). The return link member 71 is rotatablyattached to the side frame 22 a, in which the return strap 70 is lockedto one end portion side, while a second reclining release wire 72 thatunlocks the reclining mechanism 27 by the pulling operation is locked tothe other end portion side. The second reclining release wire 72 is onepart of the reclining release wire 40 locked to the reclining mechanism27 side that is branched into two parts.

Though description will be made below, in the returning operation of theseat S, the seat back 12 is made to raise by pulling the return strap 70in a state with the seat cushion 11 installed.

In this embodiment, the second reclining release wire 72 is configuredas one of the branched parts of the reclining release wire 40, but itmay be separately attached to the rib of the reclining mechanism 27.

Subsequently, the stowing and returning operations of the seat S and theoperation of the link mechanism 30 according to this embodiment will bedescribed referring to FIGS. 9 to 12.

First, the stowing operation of the seat S will be described referringto FIGS. 9A-E.

FIG. 9A shows a state in which the strap 20 is pulled rearward in a seatinstallation state. When the strap 20 is pulled rearward by a passenger,the lock of the reclining mechanism 27 is unlocked.

At this time, the seat back 12 to which the strap 20 is attached isurged to the forward direction by a coil spring, not shown, attached tothe reclining mechanism 27. If the strap 20 is pulled against the urgingdirection, the lock of the locking claws 43 and 43 of the front-side legportion 14 is unlocked by a stress lower than a stress to fold the seatback 12 down rearward.

FIG. 9B shows a state in which the lock of the locking claws 43 and 43of the front-side leg portion 14 is unlocked. That is, the lock of thelocking claws 43 and 43 of the front-side leg portion 14 is unlocked,and the seat S is made rotatable rearward.

FIGS. 9C and 9D show a state in which the rearward rotation of the seatS progresses. The center of gravity of the seat S exceeds a middle pointof rotation and thereafter, the seat S is rotated rearward by its ownweight and reaches the stowed state. At this time, if the seat back 12is brought into a folded state, the reclining mechanism 27 is lockedagain.

Also, a rearward rotating speed of the seat S is reduced by the coilspring 48 attached to the seat support portion 26 to alleviate an impactgenerated during the stowage into the stowage recess portion 5.

The front-side leg portion 14 is folded to the seat cushion 11 side byits own weight along with the rotation of the seat S.

FIG. 9E shows a stowed state of the seat S. In this state, an openingportion of the stowage recess portion 5 forms an integral flat surfacewith the rear surface of the seat cushion 11, and a large trunk isensured. In order to suppress rattling of the seat S in the stowedstate, a locking mechanism that locks the rear surface of the seat back12 and the bottom portion of the stowage recess portion 5 that islockable and unlockable may be disposed.

An operation of the link mechanism 30 during the stowing operation ofthe above-mentioned seat S will be described according to FIGS. 10A-D.

FIG. 10A shows a state of the link mechanism 30 in the installed stateof the seat S (See FIG. 9A), which is a stage prior to the operation ofthe strap 20 by the passenger. The state of the link mechanism 30 atthis time is referred to as an original position.

FIG. 10B shows a state of the link mechanism 30 when the lock of thereclining mechanism 27 is unlocked (FIG. 9B), which is a stage when thestrap 20 is somewhat pulled rearward. Since the first link member 31 isrotated in the direction pulled by the operation of the strap 20, thereclining release wire 40 is pulled with the rotation, and the lock ofthe reclining mechanism 27 is unlocked. At this time, since the seatback 12 is in the raising state with respect to the seat cushion 11, thecancel wire 42 is not pulled, the second link member 32 is rotated alongwith the first link member 31, and the leg-portion release wire 41 isalso pulled. However, the lock by the locking claws 43 and 43 connectingthe front-side leg portion 14 and the vehicle body floor 4 side is setto not be unlocked by the pulled amount in this state, and the lock ofthe leg portion is maintained.

FIG. 10C shows a state (FIG. 9C) of the link mechanism 30 when the lockbetween the reclining mechanism 27 and the locking claws 43 and 43 ofthe front-side leg portion 14 is unlocked and a state in which the strap20 is further pulled. By pulling the strap 20 more strongly than thestate (FIG. 9B) in FIG. 10B, the second link member 32 is also rotatedlargely. The reclining release wire 40 and the leg-portion release wire41 are further pulled along with this rotation. At this time, the lockof the leg portion is unlocked.

FIG. 10D shows a state of the link mechanism 30 in the final stage ofthe stowing rotation (FIG. 9D), in which though the strap 20 is beingpulled, since the seat back 12 is folded, the third link member 33 isrotated, and the lock between the first link member 31 and the secondlink member 32 is unlocked. In this state, since the second link member32 is rotated with respect to the first link member 31, the recliningrelease wire 40 and the leg-portion release wire 41 are not pulled, andthe reclining mechanism 27 and the leg-portion locking mechanism arelocked. However, since it is already located far from the striker 44,even if the leg-portion locking mechanism is locked, the stowingoperation of the seat S is not affected.

Also, by stopping the operation of the strap 20 after the seat S hasbeen stowed, though the first link member 31 is returned by the urgingspring 46 to the position before the rotation, since the seat back 12 isstowed in the folded state with respect to the seat cushion 11 (See FIG.9E), the cancel wire 42 is pulled and the third link member 33 is heldin the rotated state.

Subsequently, the returning operation of the seat S will be describedaccording to FIGS. 11A-E.

FIG. 11A shows a state in which the seat S is stowed. By pulling up agrip, not shown, disposed on the rear surface side of the seat cushion11, the seat S is rotated and operated in the returning rotatingdirection.

FIG. 11B shows a state of the returning rotation of the seat S. Theoperation load is reduced due to being urged by the coil spring 48attached to the seat support portion 26 in the returning rotatingdirection.

Along with the forward rotation of the seat S, the front-side legportion 14 is rotated and extended downward by its own weight.

FIG. 11C shows a state in which the locking claws 43 and 43 of thefront-side leg portion 14 of the seat S are locked to the vehicle bodyfloor 4 side. The locking claws 43 and 43 are locked to the leg-portionstriker 44 on the vehicle body floor 4 side by a pressure of the weightof the seat S.

FIG. 11D shows an operation to pull the return strap 70 rearward fromthe state in which the locking claws 43 and 43 of the front-side legportion 14 of the seat S are locked to the leg-portion striker 44 on thevehicle body floor 4 side.

FIG. 11E shows a state in which the returning operation of the seat S iscompleted.

That is, the passenger can return the seat S only through the operationto pull the return strap 70 rearward after gripping the grip of the seatcushion 11 in the state in which the seat back 12 is folded and stowedand rotating it forward.

The operation of the link mechanism 30 during the above-mentionedreturning operation of the seat S will be described according to FIGS.11A-12B.

FIG. 12A shows a state of the link mechanism 30 from the stowed state(FIG. 11A) of the seat S to a stage (FIG. 11C) in which the seat S isrotated and the locking claws 43 and 43 are locked to the vehicle bodyfloor 4 side. This is the state before the return strap 70 is operatedby the passenger, and since it is in the state in which the seat back 12is folded, the cancel wire 42 is pulled, and the third link member 33 isheld in the rotated state.

FIG. 12B shows a stage (FIG. 11D) in which the return strap 70 issomewhat pulled rearward in order to raise the seat back 12. By way ofthe operation of the return strap 70, the seat back 12 is made to raise.The raising operation of the seat back 12 by the return strap 70 isperformable regardless of the state of the link mechanism 30. By raisingof the seat back 12, the cancel wire 41 is returned to the state inwhich the wire is not pulled, the third link member 33 is returned to alockable position of the second link member 32.

Depending on the operation of the return strap 70, the leg-portionrelease wire 41 is not pulled, and the lock state of the locking claws43 and 43 is maintained.

At this time, since the pulling operation of the strap 20 is notperformed and the second link member 32 is at the original position, thesecond link member 32 is locked by the third link member 33 to the firstlink member 31, each link member of the link mechanism 30 is returned tothe state at the original position (See FIG. 10A).

As mentioned above, according to the seat S described herein, during thestowing operation, the stowing rotation operation and the locking andunlocking operation of the reclining mechanism 27 is performable only bythe pulling operation of the strap 20, and favorable operability duringthe stowing and returning operation of the seat is obtained.

Also, in the stowing operation of the seat S, since the recliningmechanism 27 is locked in the state in which the seat back 12 is foldedonto the seat cushion 11, there is no risk that the seat back 12 isopened again during the stowage rotation and brought into contact withthe edge of the stowage recess portion 5 is eliminated, and operabilityis improved.

In this embodiment, the third-row seat divided into right and left of anautomobile was described as a specific example, but not limited to that,it is natural that the similar configuration can also be applied to along integrally-formed bench-type seat, a passenger's seat or the otherrear seats.

Also, in this embodiment, the stowable vehicle seat S in which theoperating element in stowage is integrated into the strap 20 wasdescribed, but the present invention can be also applied to a seathaving a strap and a lever as the operating element in stowage.

TABLE OF REFERENCE CHARACTERS

-   S seat-   F seat frame-   S1 right-side seat-   S2 left-side side-   4 vehicle body floor-   5 stowage recess portion-   11 seat cushion-   12 seat back-   13 headrest-   14 front-side leg portion-   20 strap-   20 a strap outlet portion-   21 seat-cushion frame-   21 a back-frame support portion-   22 seat-back frame-   22 a side frame-   22 b center frame-   23 pillar support portion-   24 front-side leg portion frame-   25, 26 seat support portion-   27 reclining mechanism-   28 back plate-   28 a guiding hole portion-   30 link mechanism-   31 first link member-   31 a, 33 a shaft portion-   31 b long hole-   32 second link member-   32 b locking recess portion-   33 third link member-   34 strap connecting member-   34 a, 40 c, 41 c, locking portion-   42 c-   35 locking projection-   40 reclining release wire-   40 a reclining release cable-   40 b, 41 b, 42 b end-portion member-   41 leg-portion release wire-   41 a leg-portion release cable-   42 cancel wire-   42 a cancel cable-   43 locking claw-   43 a rotating shaft-   44 leg-portion striker-   45, 46 urging spring-   48 coil spring-   49 locking rib-   70 return strap-   71 return link member-   72 second reclining release wire

1. A stowable vehicle seat comprising: a first seat support thatsupports one end portion side of a seat cushion movably in afront-and-rear direction; a seat back that is foldable onto said seatcushion through reclining elements; a second seat disposed on an otherend portion side of said seat cushion; locking and unlocking elementsthat lock and unlock said second seat support and the vehicle body floorside; a link mechanism connected to said reclining elements; andoperating element connected to said reclining elements and said lockingand unlocking elements through said link mechanism, wherein saidreclining elements has a reclining mechanism that folds said seat backonto said seat cushion and a detection mechanism that detects a state inwhich said seat back is folded; and said link mechanism has a first linkmember connected to said operating element, a second link memberconnected to said reclining mechanism, and a third link member connectedto said detection mechanism.
 2. The stowable vehicle seat according toclaim 1, wherein said second link member is connected to said recliningmechanism and the locking and unlocking elements.
 3. The stowablevehicle seat according to claim 1, wherein said third link member isprovided with a locking member that locks and unlocks said second linkmember to and from said first link member and moved upon detection bysaid detection mechanism of a state in which said seat back is folded tounlock the lock by said locking member.
 4. The stowable vehicle seataccording to claim 1, wherein said first link member is supportedmovably by a pulling operation of said operating element and is urged ina direction opposite to the moving direction by the pulling operation ofsaid operating element all the time.
 5. The stowable vehicle seataccording to claim 1, wherein said second link member is supportedcoaxially with said first link member, and said third link member issupported by said first link member.
 6. The stowable vehicle seataccording to claim 1, wherein said second link member includes a contactportion that is brought into contact with said locking member of saidthird link member, a first locking portion connected to said recliningmechanism through a first connecting member, a second locking portionconnected to said locking and unlocking elements through a secondconnecting member, and a movable shaft supported by said first linkmember; and said first locking portion and said second locking portionare disposed on both sides of said movable shaft.